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Court must review GM rehab plan

Feds say that until a judge  OKs or rejects rehab plan, there is no way to say  when funds are coming.

There is no way to say when money will come to Ohio to help clean up the GM plant in Moraine. Staff file photo

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By Jack Torry  and Tom Gnau, Staff Writers Updated 10:22 AM Friday, May 21, 2010

WASHINGTON — A federal bankruptcy court in New York will have to approve an Obama administration plan to spend $52 million to clean up eight idled General Motors plants or abandoned land parcels in Ohio, including two old industrial facilities in Moraine.

Federal officials said there is no way to say when the money will flow to Ohio until the bankruptcy court either approves or rejects the administration’s plan to spend $836 million to clean up 89 abandoned General Motors facilities or land parcels in 14 states across the country.

Officials said if a federal bankruptcy judge approves the plan, the court is likely to appoint a trustee who would have final say on which old facilities or land parcels would be cleaned up first.

The Moraine sites selected by the administration are the former GM assembly plant, the old Delphi parts plant, and land owned by the auto company at Moraine Lagoon.

If such help makes developers more comfortable in investing in these properties, that’s good, Moraine officials said. “I think anytime you make these (properties) more accessible and relieve pressures that would be on the purchasers, that would be a good thing,” said Dave Hicks, Moraine city manager.

The Delphi plant has since been razed. The GM/Delphi properties are owned by Motors Liquidation Co., the company dealing with properties GM discarded through bankruptcy last summer.

Asked for comment, Motos Liquidation said Thursday, “MLC worked very closely with federal and state governments and local communities to develop extensive cost estimates for this task, and we believe the proposed funds are adequate to fulfill environmental obligations at sites across the country.”

Michael Skunda, managing director of acquisitions for Covington Capital, which has expressed an interest in the former GM plant, said it’s good to know the money will be available, pending approval by the bankruptcy court.

“It’s a very complicated property,” Skunda said. “I’m happy to hear that this trust fund was put together, because it’s needed.”

Skunda added that his interest in the site has remained “very steady.”

The other General Motors sites in Ohio would be the Mansfield Stamping Plant, the Parma Power Train facility, and landfills or land no longer wanted by General Motors in Elyria, Lordstown and Toledo.

The money, if approved by the court, could be used to redevelop or decontaminate old General Motors’ sites. The money would come from the $700 billion financial rescue package approved by Congress in 2008.

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